Plate-box.



No. 757,540. PATENTED APR. 19, v1904.

' H. D. tR.. C. BIGKFORD.

PLATE BOX. rrLloA'rloN FILED mso. 4. 1903.

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Nt'. 757,540. l

"UNITED STATI-is Patented April 19, i904;

lIATETA i iiARoLD'D. BICKFORD- AND RALPH o. Bioxronn, oF WATERVILLE,

MAINE.

PLATE-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,540, dated April 19, 1904:.

Application filed Decemberll, 1903, vSerial No. 183,719. (No model.)`

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that we, HAROLD D. BICKFORD and RALPH C. BIGKFORD, citizens of the United States, both residing at Waterville, in the county of Kennebec and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plate-Boxes; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in photographic-plate boxes or packages in which photographic plates are placed for sale, and is designed to afford both a compact and simplev carrier for the plates and means of discharging the plates from the box into a plateholder, so that the process of loading the plateholder direct from the original package may accomplished in the light.

To this end it consists of a suitable box provided with a sliding cover, the sides and one end of the box extending above the upper surface of the cover. The extended portions of the box are provided with means for receiving the ordinary plate-holder of acamera and holding the same in place and serving also 'to prevent light from entering the box containing the plates or the plate-holder while the process of transferring the plates from the box to the holder is being accomplished.

In the drawings herewith accompanying and forming a part ofl this application, Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved platebox with the movable slide drawn out. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the box with the plateholder in position; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the plate-holder with the slide removed,

.showing a photographic plate in position.

Same letters of reference refer to like parts in all the gures.

In said drawings, A represents a box having a sliding cover C, adapted to enter the box through a slot D in the end and to slide in grooves B in the sides. rIhe box proper is provided with angle spacing and guiding blocks E at the inner end and with spacing and guiding blocks E at the opposite end for properly positioning the plates G in the box so that they may be properly transferred when desired to the plate-holder, the space between the blocks being coincident with the space between the frame of the plate-holder when the holder is in position. They also serve when loading the plates into the plate-holder to so guide them that they will surely take their proper position in the holder. The sides and one end of the box are carried upwardly above the upper surface of the slide C, so as to form a guide or holding surface for the plate-holder H when it is desired to load the same. In the drawings is shown a tongue I, adapted to lit into a groove J in the sides and inner end of the plate-holder, so as to hold the same in position and prevent admission of any light from the outside into the box containing the plates; but we do not wish to limit ourselves to this exact form of construction, because the tongue may be positioned sufciently above the upper surface of the slide to enable the frame of the plateholder to enter thereunder, thus obviating the necessity of providing the sides of the plateholder with a groove to receive the tongue of the box. Any of the ordinary varieties of Aplateholders may be used invconnection with our improved plate-box. A spring F in the plate-holder serves to hold the plate in position in the holder. The spring can be operated in any convenient manner, as by a rod F passing through the frame of the holder.

The operation of our device is as follows: When it is desired to load aplate-holder, the plate-holder is placed in position above the movable slide C of the box. The slide K in the holder is then drawn outwardly, thus making the plate-holder ready for the plate. The sliding cover of the box is then removed and the box inverted. The plate is thereby discharged by gravity int'o the holder, the cover ofthe box is replaced, the slide is returned to its proper position in the holder, and the holder is loaded ready for use.

Having thus described our invention and its use, we claim- 1. A plate-box provided with means rigidly secured to the inside thereof for positioning the plates therein away from the sides and inner end and a sliding cover for said box, the

vertical walls of said box extending upwardly above said cover and being provided on the inside thereof with means for securing a photographic plate holder above said sliding cover, whereby the plates may be discharged from the box directly into the plate-holder without exposure to the light when the sliding cover is removed.

2. A plate-box having a sliding cover in the top thereof, vertical walls extending above said cover and on three sides thereof and means for securing a photographic-plate holder `to said box above said cover, whereby the plates may be discharged from the box to the plate- 

